Method of treating gases and gas mixtures by means of voltaic arcs.



No. 880,037. PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908. A. J. PETERSSON.

METHOD OF TREATING GASES AND GAS MIXTURES BY MEANS OF VOLTAIG ARCS.

APPLICATION FILED AU('. 23 1904.

3 SHBETS-SHEBT 1.

Pf: g

Witnesses MM $80. was

No. 880,037. PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908.

. A. J. PETERSSON. METHOD OF TREATING GASES AND GAS MIXTURES BY MEANS OF VOLTAIG ARCS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mtncssas therefrom. The electrodes TUIIEQTTED PATENT. @FFTQE.

ALBERT JOHAN PETERSSON, ALBY, SWEDEN.

METHOD OF TREATING GASES AN!) GAS MIXTURES BY MEANS OIEVOL'IAIC ARCS.

Patented Feb. 25, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT Jonas PE- TERSSON, a subject of the'King of Sweden, and resident of Alby; Sweden, have in vented new anduseful Improvements in Methods of Treating Gases and Gas l\lixtureh by Means of Voltaic Arcs, of'which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forminga part hereof.

This invention relates -to a method of treating gases and gas mixtures by means of yoltaic arcs. Y

When reactions between gases take place under the influence of the electric arc the latt'er acts in an ionizing manner. The com pounds obtained are, however, again dissorelated by the electric are, on account of which it is, as will be easily understood, important to bring them away out of action of the are as quickly as possible, or, which is the same,

to let the arc act upon as many gas molecules as possible. This has hitherto been done by leading the gases quickly past the arc.

The present invention relates to. a method .of gaining the same result in another and more perfect manner than heretofore, and the new method consists, in subjecting the voltaic arcs-created between and moving along electrodes to a strengthened electro-dynamic displacing action in order to move the arcs through the mass of gas more rapidly than heretofore. This may be accomplished by leading specially generated currents through one or both of the electrodes between which the arcs are formed or by leading such currents through special conductors extending along the said electrodes or the one of them, and so on, as will be more clearly explained h'erebelow- I In order that my invention may be better understood I will explain the same with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrat-ing diagrammatically some apparatus for carrying out the method.

Figure 1 shows one form of apparatus'for carrying the method into practice. a represents the walls of the furnace or chamber containing the gases to be treated provided with openings b, c for leading the gases into the apparatus and drawing of)? the same (1, d, which should be insulated from the walls a, if the latter are ofelectrically conducting material,

are inside the gas-chamber bent and so arranged as'to extend along, or run parallel to, each other. trodes extending along each other may be of different shapes for different purposes. They may thus be rectilinear,as' is shown in The parts e, e of the elec-,

1, or they may be in the shape of spirals,

circles, and so on. It is not necessary that they are formed 'by'linear conductors. They may be surface-shaped, consisting, for instance, of hollow metal cylinders, plates or the like. For promoting the striking of the arc the electrodes may at some suitable point he placed in proximity to each other, or any suitable device'jmay be provided at that point for striking the are through the mass of gas. Eventually the striking of the arc may be facilitated by means of temporary increase of the voltage at theelectrodes, for

instance by condenser discharges or the like,

by an extra transformer for high voltage or the like. c

In order to create strong electrodynamic forces in the furnace chamber a for" dis- --placing the arcs with i great velocity through the said chamber specially generated cur: rents are led through the one or both of the electrodes. Dynamo-machines, g, g, or other sources of electricitymay thus be connected to each or one of the electrodes so that each or on'eof the latter together with the source of current and the wires form a closed circuit e, f, d, d. The main current forming the arc andthecurrents generated. by the source of current g may beef any suitable kind, whereby the --iorces acting upon the arc in accordance with the well known laws for the action-0f electric currents upon each other obtain a constant or. alternate direction dependingon'the direction of the currents at every sp'ecial moment.-

Instead of leading the extra currents through" the electrodes, conductors for the said current may be proyided, the said conductors being arranged in the apparatus 1n such manner that the currents flowing through the same have an, electro-dynamic influence on the arcs: I

Another deviceespecially adapted for alternating current is shown in Fig. 2. The conductors h leading the current to the apparatus constitute primary circuits i of alternating current transformers and continue thereupon to the electrodes (1, the ends of which are connected to the secondary circuits 7c of the said transformers so that the .said secondary windings, the wires leading the current to the electrodes, and thelatter shown in Fig. 2.

form closed circuits, This apparatus Works as follows. When the voltaic arc is formed at f, the primary windings i are passed by a current which is equal to that in the are, and the said current induces in the secondary windings Z? a current, which is synchronous and may be adjusted so as to correspond in phase to the primary current, and the strength of which compared to that of the primary circuit is as the reverse of the respective turns of the windings of the trans former. It is thus possible to obtain in the secondary windings currents which are for instance 10, 100, 1000 or more times stronger than that in the arc, whereby a proportionally stronger displacing influence on the arc is obtained.

Another constructional form of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 3, in which the electrodes form spirals. The .apparatus is pro- Vided with similar transformer device as that The parts 6, e, of the electrodes between which the arcs are formed are spirally wound with the same pitch but with different diameters, the one spiral being placed within the other. During the operation the arcs will here run along the spirals and. act at many points of the gasmass.

For the inner spiral a straight conductor may be substituted.

If the one or both of the electrodes be not of linear shape the said extra, currents for influencing the arcs may be obtained by electro-magnetic induction directly of the nonlinear electrode or electrodes which in this case themselves form closed circuits for the said extra currents. Such a device is shown in Fig. 4, a cylinder Z of metal-plate constituting the one electrode, while the other electrode is a spiral m. The latter is placed on an iron core n suitably forming a closed magnetic circuit, as shown. The said spiral constitutes the primary member of a transformer of which the said cylinder Z is the secondary member. The primary cir cuit is supplied with current from a series transformer '11, 7c inserted in the maincircuit. The latter runs from the primary winding 4; of the transformer to the one end of the spiral and therefrom in forming the arc to the cylinder Z, and from the latter to the other pole of the source of current. The distance between the cylinder Z and the lower end of the spiral may in any suitable way be decreased in order that the arcs may strike.

scope? Since the apparatus herein described forms the subject matter ofa divisional application Serial No. 277,260, filed September 6th: 1905, I do not claim the said apparatus here.

Having now described my invention and in What manner the same may be performed What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of treating ases by means of voltaic arcs, which conslsts in leading gases through a-furnace chamber, creating the said arcs between electrodes in the said furnace chamber and creating electrodynamic forces for strengthening the displacing action exerted upon the arcs by the currents flowing through the electrodes to the said arcs, substantially as and for the purpose.

set forth.

2. The method of treating gases by mearis of voltaic arcs, which consists in leading gases through a furnace chamber, creating the said arcs between electrodes in the said furnace chamber, and creating electrodynamic forces by means of electric currents of greater intensity than that of thecurrent creating the arcs for displacing, the latter, A

substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The method of treating gases by means of voltaic arcs which consists in leading gases through a furnace chamber, creating the said arcs between electrodes in the said furnace chamber and creating electrodynamic forces by means of electric currents of greater intensity than that of the current creating the arcs and induced by the last mentioned current for displacing the arcs substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT JOHAN PETERSSON. Witnesses:

KARL RUNEsKoG, JOHN DELMAR. 

